drcspy

it is theoretically possible to run system restore from 'dos' as such in xp but it's difficult heres the info I picked up:

There are a couple of steps to get this to work correctly. Keep in mind this is how I got my laptop back after SP2 crashed it. I took XP Pro back to a restore point a week ago using the following:

- go to recovery console
- type cd \ then enter
- then cd system~1\_resto~1 then enter (if you get an error accessing the folder type cd "System Volume Information")
- type dir then enter
this is going to show you the base folder for the restore points
-type cd _restore {whatever number is listed}
-type dir
when you hit <Enter> it will list all the restore points folders
like rp1,rp2........ we have to see the last restore point to copy
the file from a recent backup. if the restore points have more than
one page then u have keep on hitting the <Enter> key to view the
last restore point folder. You will have to choose the second to the
last option, if it has more than 2 RP's.
- type cd rp {the second to the last restore point no. } (Note :
Example : cd rp9, if rp9 is the second to the last restore point,
where last restore point no.=9 )
- then type cd snaphot
Now the command Prompt will look like this c:\system~1\_resto~1\rp9
\snapshot>
- type: copy _registry_machine_system c:\windows\system32
\config\system OR:
copy _registry_machine_softwarec:\windows\system32\conf ig\software
- then type exit

when your machine reboots it will come to the login screen. Try to login. If you can login great, you may get an error that says Windows cannot accurately apply the license for this computer yada yada Error Code: 0x80090019 or something similar. In my case this was due to SP2 changing the 5 registry hives. To fix this go back to recovery console and perform the following:


At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following lines, pressing ENTER after you type each line:
md tmp
copy c:\windows\system32\config\system c:\windows\tmp\system.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\software c:\windows\tmp\software.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\sam c:\windows\tmp\sam.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\security c:\windows\tmp\security.bak
copy c:\windows\system32\config\default c:\windows\tmp\default.bak

delete c:\windows\system32\config\system
delete c:\windows\system32\config\software
delete c:\windows\system32\config\sam
delete c:\windows\system32\config\security
delete c:\windows\system32\config\default

copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system
copy c:\windows\repair\software c:\windows\system32\config\software
copy c:\windows\repair\sam c:\windows\system32\config\sam
copy c:\windows\repair\security c:\windows\system32\config\security
copy c:\windows\repair\default c:\windows\system32\config\default


Type exit to quit Recovery Console. Your computer will restart.

You should then be able to login to the system. This procedure recovers the registry from the repair folder. When you install XP it automatically creates this folder with repair files. After all this you should be back into windows and can start cleaning up the mess left behind.

This whole process took me two days of hair pulling, 4 hours talking to Microsoft second level tech support in a country that is not the US, and tons of searching the net. Hope this helps somebody who gets into the same situation as me.

MTGENIUS

P.S. Microsoft second level support told me on the phone that getting to a restore point from the recovery console is impossible. This procedure works but obviously is not endorsed by MS. Please proceed at your own risk.